Most of the stuff I end up dropping, it’s due to a lack of time or a huge number of episodes or whatever. Unfortunately, Nyaruko is the exception.

When I first heard about Nyaruko, I was psyched. I’m a sucker for Lovecraftian horrors and was hoping that DLE, the studio behind the series, would do some cool things with it. And they did, don’t get me wrong. A lot of the humor is clever and the running gags (threatening Nyaruko with a fork) were chuckle-worthy. Even the characters were all kinds of fun and enjoyable.

… Then they pulled the ‘alien’ card on us. What’s that, these unspeakable evils that rend and tear at the very idea of sanity and order are just happy, silly people from space? Yeah, I’ll admit that pissed me off (and is still my second-biggest problem with the series), but I got over it. Aliens are probably more marketable than eldritch horrors anyway.

Then a lot of smaller problems started piling up: Nyaruko’s near-constant use of that stupid catch phrase/greeting. The nonsensical (in the bad way) “Space CQC,” and this is coming from a guy who is all about nonsense. The big thing that turned me off the series, however, was the fact that it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Episodes 1-4? Reasonably silly and not too terribly serious. Episodes five and six? “Oh no, the main character’s mother was kidnapped and has a special power that can help rule over space what shall we do.” “Oh no, our former ally turned against us because why not what shall we do (again).” Basically, it started to become something it wasn’t very good at. Nyaruko is dopey as hell and she gives off this impression for the first third of the series; she’s no good in a truly serious situation.

At this point, I’m not even sure if I can finish it. It’s trying too hard to be something that it isn’t. I don’t care if we get back to the usual antics and Kuuko’s borderline rape, the show just stopped being enjoyable for me. So… yeah. I hate to say it, but I can’t really recommend Nyaruko to anyone who isn’t looking for a less-than-amazing pseudo-harem series with aliens.

I mean, if you guys think it’s worth it to power on through the series, let me know. I’ll be glad to pick it back up if it gets back to normal soon.